New Delhi: Policemen who assist banks in confiscation of property from defaulters should be paid a percentage of the money collected as a fee for the service, suggests a new report published by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).

According to the report, raising resources would be crucial for the state police departments to fund the police force in its primary task of criminal investigations. The report, which was prepared by R.C. Arora, director of research and development at BPR&D, seeks to identify measures that would improve the quality of the work done by investigating officers.

The report says that, as of now, revenue department officials are allowed to charge a fee for rendering assistance to banks. A similar provision should be made for police personnel with the caveat that the fee earned by them should be deposited in a department account, which would be used to fund expenses related to crime investigations.

“There is an urgent need to ensure that there is no dearth of funds for investigating officers. Today, these officers are having to pay from their own pockets to meet travel expenses, stationery or an incentive for their sources,” said Arora.

Similarly, police departments should also be allowed to charge a fee for providing security for sporting events, rallies and other public events and also for assistance provided to civic authorities for removing encroachments, the report said. Some state police departments have already started charging for some of these services.

Former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Joginder Singh said the proposal by BPR&D did not make sense. “The government should hand over investigation of petty offences such as cheque bounce cases and providing assistance to banks for confiscating property belonging to defaulters to private detective agencies,” he said. “This will enable the state police to focus on serious crimes...”